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Buckling for Everyone
Upon closing for the season
every April,
Aspen Ski and Board staff members
pick a destination for a week long vacation to
celebrate a successful year and seek out some
deep snow conditions and big mountain riding.
Mount Bachelor, Oregon is always on our radar,
having spent our shop trip there in the spring
of 2007. The mountain had received incredible
amounts of snow starting in March and made the
decision to lock the trip up. We were NOT
disappointed. Shredding occurred in such
quantity and excitement that most other visitors
to the mountain simply stopped in their lines to
marvel at our steeze. Rails were thrashed.
Kickers were kicked. Cliffs were hucked. Powder
was pillaged. We love sharing our time on the
mountain just as much as hearing the wonderful
tales from all our customers about their
experiences. Below are a few of the more
memorable pictures from our recent trip.
- Avoid putting cold boots on your feet. For one, low temperature makes the
plastic of the boot
much stiffer, effectively making you work harder just to get
your boots
on. The more obvious reason is a cold boot reduces the temperature of
your feet, stacking the odds against you of getting cold before you get in the
lift line. Bring your boots into the lodge and make them the last thing you put
on—by then they should have adjusted to room temperature.
-
Skiers and
snowboarders exert too much energy trying to get their
boots on. Many people
believe that pulling the tongue straight out is the correct method for inserting
your foot into the boot. This actually decreases the distance between the instep
and the heel. This can make it especially difficult for people with high insteps
to get their feet it. Instead of pulling the tongue of the
boot directly out,
move it to the side as hard you are able (you won’t hurt the tonque) and pull
out to create a larger opening in the lower shell of the boot. More space to
work with makes it easier to get your feet in and keeps exhaustion levels intact
until you actually get on the slopes.
- You’re in your
boots—now what? This is
where the important stuff happens. The best bootfitters in the world (like us)
don’t jump into buckling your boots tight for the day right off the bat.
- First you need to make sure that your insole isn’t crunched or your socks didn’t
fold up—because anything else we do after definitely won’t remedy those two
things.
- Before we go any further, note that even amongst life-long
professionals of the sport, no ONE buckling method has been agreed upon. The
following is what we suggest as a great way to make sure fit and comfort are
attained in a sequential manner.
- If all feels well (and assuming you are in a
four buckle boot) the next step is to begin buckling. A war rages on the correct
buckling theory to this very day. Our education from the world renowned Masterfit University
sees one of the current trends is to buckle from the bottom
to the top. Other bootfitters will start at the third buckle from the toe. For
those that battle with buckling across the calf, we suggest using the power
strap at the top of the boot to help make buckling easier. The goal is to buckle
to a tension that is relatively easy to bring the buckle to the closed position.
If you can close the buckle using one finger, that is a good place to start.
- Stop right there. You will need to be standing for the next part. Go ahead and
“flex” the boot; by this I mean drive your knee forward so that it hovers
directly above your toes. This action of getting in a common ski stance
facilitates heel movement to the back of the boot and is crucial to avoid over
tightening. Flex the boot several times until the heel feels comfortable inside
the liner.
- Now it is time to close the remaining two buckles of the boot.
Again, you are buckling to a point of minimum tension. It should be relatively
easy to close the buckles down. Flex the boot several more times to make sure
the instep buckle has not inhibited your heel from going back in to the ankle
pocket. If you have a power strap on the top part of the boot, you may tighten
that down to a tension appropriate to the rest of the boot.
- It is at this
point where many skiers make the mistake of continuing to tighten down their
buckles. Instead of traveling down that road of pain, do a warm up run when you
are ready and begin to tighten down as you go. Once your heart rate is higher
than its resting state, you’ll be pumping more blood to your feet—making that
warm up run (or two, or three) well worth the time. It is at this point you
should buckle your boots to your desired tightness. Most people that switch to
this method find a huge drop of constant cramping, numbness, and cold feet.
It is important to realize that
skiing on “loose” boots is just as big of a
mistake as clamping down the moment you set foot
on snow. The key point to remember is steady
progression. Dealing with varying temperatures
and intense physical activity are enough to deal
with. Don’t throw another wrench in your day by
turning your boots into makeshift tourniquets.
Aspen Ski and Board Company is your
source for all your
ski accessories and
snowboard accessories. We carry:
ski goggles,
Snowboard bags,
ski bags,
ski boot bags,
watches,
ski helmets, boots,
snowboard helmets,
sunglasses,
snowboard goggles, tuning supplies,
tuning service, and gift cards
for every occasion. We have all the major
brands, including:
Burton,
Croakies,
Dakine,
DC,
Descente,
Giro,
Goode,
High Sierra,
Level Gloves,
Lorpen,
Mental,
Nixon,
Oakley,
Scott,
Skull Candy,
Smith Sport Optics,
SpyOptics,
Superfeet, and
Thule. |
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